Preparing fish yourself may seem like a daunting task but is really is quite easy. Learn how to prepare a fish in 7 easy steps.
- Scale the fish by firmly grasping it at the head and working a scaler in an upward motion from the tail
- Pay particular attention to removing all the scales around the tail, fins and under the belly flap
- Scalers are ideal for large fish but a tablespoon is sufficient for smaller fish such as tommy ruff
- Gut your fish by slitting open the belly from the head to the tail and ease out the intestines. Wash out the cavity with cold running water
- Fan out the gill flap, cut along its top and pull out the gill. Repeat for both sets of gills
- Trim the fins using kitchen scissors to whatever degree you like. It's fine to leave them all on
- Cut the flesh in diagonal lines across the body. The larger the fish the deeper the insertion to ensure it cooks through